Caring Ministries

Through the Holy Spirit, we are gifted and empowered with spiritual gifts, skills and talents to be used in "the building up of the Body" -- in other words, to take care of each other. Through our caring, we express the love of Christ. St. Mark's Caring Ministries shares Christ's love through ministries of prayer; hospitality; spiritual, emotional and practical support; nurture; enrichment; and education.

The Counselor-in-Residence program offers counseling and psychotherapy for individuals, couples, families, children and adolescents. These services are available to both the St. Mark’s and the Tucson community. The St. Mark's United Methodist Church Counselor-in-Residence program recognizes the right of all people to feel supported and connected to a community. Healing occurs within those fibers of connection to self and others. The counseling program is dedicated to providing resources and therapeutic support for both the St. Mark's and the Tucson community.Read more...

Experiencing a loss can sometimes make you feel as though you have lost your place in the “circle” of life. You may feel isolated, angry, deeply saddened, depressed, or even numb. You may find few people to safely share your intimate grief journey. This weekly grief support group can provide a healing circle of care and compassion and offer a safe, supportive place for your feelings, your stories, and your healing.

Healing in grief is not done alone. Each of us has a unique experience of grief while at the same time, a universal connection with others in grief. Giving voice to your unique experience, finding avenues of self-care and validation, while nurturing your connection with others, leads to a healing that can create new meaning in your life.

The Grief Support Group meets once a week. Place contact Lane Harmon, MC, LPC at 520-297-6228 if you are interested in attending.

Lay Visitation Team - Our Congregational Care Ministers, who serve on the Lay Visitation Team, provide a valuable service to the St. Mark’s community through its caring ministry to those in hospitals, care centers and who are homebound. These ministers complete training and are commissioned to work alongside our pastors in providing visitation and resources that give encouragement and support in life circumstances that may be lonely and challenging. Our partnerships with organizations in our area, such as Interfaith Community Services and Pima County Council on Aging, enlarges our ability to connect people to the right agency for a holistic approach to their needs. The team also sends greeting cards to the congregation in times of illness and bereavement.

Membership Care Team - The Membership Care Team serves our community in providing receptions for funerals and memorial services hosted at St. Mark’s. In partnership with the pastoral staff, this group of caring individuals creates a place of comfort and hospitality as families gather with friends and loved ones to grieve their loss.

This ministry focuses on how we care for our elders and those at the end of life, as well as encouraging continued ministry by older adults. The primary components of the ministry program are educational resources for members and developing lay people to serve in congregational and pastoral care. Read the full ministry plan here.

St. Mark's Prayer Ministry provides for congregational prayer life in a variety of ways. These include:

The Prayer Ministry Team - a group of individuals focused on strengthening the individual and corporate prayer life of our church by providing education, resources and new opportunities for prayer. It is their desire to hold up all the ministries at St. Mark's, as well as the larger church and the surrounding community. For the monthly prayer requests prepared by this team, identifying specific areas of need, please see sidebar on right side of this page.

The Prayer Chain - an email chain of people willing to pray at a moment's notice for an urgent need.

To submit a prayer request for either the Prayer Group or Prayer Chain, please see sidebar at the right of this page.

The Prayer Room - the Prayer Room is located in Room 21 and is open during regular office hours (Monday-Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm), as well as Sunday mornings.